ACADEMIC WRITING

LIVES OF ARISTOCRACY AND PEASANTRY DURING THE EIGHTEENTH

CENTURY

The lives of the privileged in society have distinct disparities. This can be well explicated when we
juxtapose the lives of a group of people living together. Good comparison and contrast is the lives of
the aristocracy and peasantry during the eighteenth century.
Aristocracy means the rule of the best. It was based on privacy, commerce, and robbery. The
peasants were farmers who engaged in agriculture (Wickham, 175). In many societies from
ancient times, aristocracy and peasantry are elements that have been featured. The gaps
between the rich and the poor in such communities are wide. The Aristocrats dominated social,
political, and financial positions in Europe despite them being less than one percent of the
general population. They enjoyed privileges and rights in society. They took advantage of low-
income earners and their low status. They held wealth that they generated from the big farms
they owned and inheritances from their families. They controlled people who worked under
them. They demeaned them in order to work hard to maintain prestige and privilege. This was
portrayed by their standards of living and lifestyles racing, hunting, feasting, and higher levels
of education (Castiglione,83). Such luxuries were at the expense of the middle class who were
highly exploited. They worked for long hours with little pay. Aristocrats enjoyed many legal
privileges including impunity from the very severe form of punishment and being exempted
from paying taxes. Most of the Aristocrats in Versailles were found in courts and they sustained
their lifestyle from rent and house holdings (Allen, 44).
The peasantry was critical to the Aristocratic classes as morally inferior. The peasants
emphasized that the work they do should go along with the pay they receive from the
Aristocrats. This brought confusion, hatred, fear, and anxiety between the two groups
(Castiglione,92). Exploiting the peasants, Aristocrats morally decayed in order to maintain their
well-to-do lifestyles. Peasantry made up 85% of the total population and was primarily found in
the countryside west cultivated on leased farms though some owned small pieces of land. They
were not allowed to own large pieces since the ruling class regarded them as stupid people not
capable of managing farms. They were made to pay taxes and obliged to compulsory services.
They again received all sorts of punishment, hard labor in Aristocrats’ farms, and topped poor
diet: dark bread made from wheat and rye, water, wine soup, and beer made from grain and
vegetables. Aristocrats’ diet comprised plenty of meat and fish, sweets, nuts, and cheese.
Despite this, Aristocrats enjoyed the prosperity of trade with the peasantry. They exchanged
goods which included tobacco, tea, silk, coffee, sugar, and alcohol. In Holland and England,
those who owned pieces of land became entrepreneurs and investors in their own rights
(Oven,60). They also shared the plight of enlightenment. Thoughts of progress and science
were embraced. This was facilitated by the idea that success was attributed to learning. This
made the peasantry embrace education and reject the past (Schneider,22). A sense of equality
started to emerge.
To summarize, in the 18th century people were defined by their social status. The Aristocrats
were wealthy and owned properties while the peasants were poor and depended on the
Aristocrats for food. On the hierarchy were the Aristocrats and on the bottom was the
peasantry. They used positions of power to make the peasantry generate wealth for them.
Peasantry on the other hand lived a simple life and a few material possessions. However, both
embraced literacy.
References
Castiglione, Caroline, (2016) ‘’Peasants at the place: wet nurses and aristocratic mothers in
Early Modern Rome’’ Medieval and Renaissance locations Routledge,79-100.
Ovens, Michael. (2016) ‘’Masculine Identity and the Rustics of Romance in Chretien’s Erec and
Yvain” Viutor 47: 45-66
Shhnieider, Jane. (2020) ‘’Introduction: The dynamics of neo-orientalism in Italy (1848-1995)
Italy’s’’ Southern Question, 1-23.
Wichham, Chris. (2016) ‘’Looking forward: peasants revolts in Europe, 600-1200’’ The
Routledge History Handbook of Medieval Revolt Routledge, 168-18.